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How to Protect a Home When Away in Winter?

Posted by Zonk on from the i-suggest-unseen-servant dept.

kidMike writes "I have just accepted a new job in another state, requiring me to relocate. I'm going to keep my house in New England. As I watch the winter storm problems and electrical outages across the country, how do Slashdotters protect their houses (or cabins) when they are away in the winter? Is there a device that will call me if the temp in the house drops below a certain level? How about a broken pipe flooding the house? How can I keep advised of problems happening hundreds of miles away? (There will still be broadband at the house.)"

3 of 433 comments (clear)

  1. Protecting your house by Foofoobar · · Score: 5, Funny

    I usually set up a series of pits and snares and then stock secret rooms with orcs and kobolds. It doesn't hurt to circulate rumors of a powerful demon living in the cellar in local taverns either.

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    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
  2. Obviously... by astrosmash · · Score: 5, Funny

    Buy an old P-III tower for 50 bucks, set it up with Fedora Core 6, Apache, and a dynamic DNS service. Add a cron job to reboot the server every Sunday, and maybe enable LogWatch to email you daily status updates. Finally, place the tower on the bare concrete in your basement.

    With this set up you can check on your house from anywhere at any time. If the server stops responding, your house has been destroyed.

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    ENDUT! HOCH HECH!
  3. Yes. by pizzach · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most sure fire way is to burn it.

    ...I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

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    Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.